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Monday, January 16, 2017

Supporting Small Churches Does Not Mean Bashing Big Churches

When we bash churches for becoming big, we fail to recognize the power of the gospel to draw people to Jesus, in both large and small crowds.

I like big- and megachurches. I wish there were more of them.

I like small churches even more. I wish there were a lot more of them.

As I continue to write and speak about the value of small churches, I’m noticing a disturbing mini-trend that I want to opt out of. It’s the tendency in some people, when they hear that I’m for small churches, to start talking trash about megachurches.

“I’m glad you’re going after those megachurches. They’re so shallow,” one person wrote. “Big churches don’t care for their members as much as small churches do,” another said. “A large crowd is the sign of a shallow church,” was another comment I heard recently.

And, of course, there’s the meme that keeps making the rounds showing a huge megachurch, with the words “When you tell them what they want to hear...” contrasted with a photo of a small, empty church, and the words “When you preach the truth.”

Ugh.

Not only do these comments betray a complete misunderstanding of my beliefs and intentions, they fail to recognize the power of the Gospel to draw people to Jesus, in both large and small crowds. Read More